Anime Expo 2013

This was the third Anime Expo I attended (here’s 2011 and 2012). The novelty had worn off a little, but I wanted to go one last time just for the hell of it, and also because I wanted to try getting in with a free badge after the designated time (had paid for my badge the last two years). Ela, her sister Angela, and Lilli had never been to it before, nor were they really into anime I think. Quite frankly, I wasn’t that up to date with them either, but the atmosphere has always been nice at the convention:

I was so curious as to how they managed to get the tank on the grounds.

This baby was incredibly cute! She was dozing off just like that and the mum had to attract her attention for a picture. I felt quite bad being the cause of her sleep deprivation though.

Lilli met her friend not five minutes after stepping into the Exhibit Hall!

Shingeki no Kyojin cosplayers were abound, and some took the stage at the Crunchyroll booth. I even spotted a titan perusing a booth in beige undies! I was excited and amused at his cosplay.

Awesome crocheted sushi scarf is awesome.

All the Adventure Time merchandise you need.

One of those rare moments when Ela voluntarily poses for a picture and looks happy about it. X3

I’ve seen this guy and his pretty cool balloon sculpture booth at the Artist’s Alley every year.

Shamis had a booth again this year and I went to visit him!

This was pretty epic, when Batman suddenly grabbed hold of the Joker and screamed, “WHERE IS SHE? WHERE IS SHE??” in the middle of the atrium. We were right next to him and got so startled.

I don’t know where they were from, but their freeze position was super cool.

[edit] According to Ottie, I am a disgrace.

Ottie: OMG
Ottie: YOU DONT RECOGNIZE LEFT FOR DEAD
Ottie: YOU WILL LOSE NERD POINTS WITH YOUR FANS
Ottie: francis is missing
Ottie: lol 3 original characters, one from L4D2

Hey, while I know of L4D, I don’t play games; the last time I tried Halo 3, my roommates were so proud of me getting an average of one kill an hour. And I don’t think I have fans. There were actually more cosplayers from that scene on the left of this capture, but I thought that this was a more interesting comp. XD

And our favourite Ice King cosplayer from the con, because he had an Ice King nose.

We went to Mongols for dinner. It was my first time there, since it’s so nondescript that I tend to walk past it every time I walk on Gayley Avenue. Mongols is a buffet in the sense that you get a small bowl and try to squeeze as many ingredients as you can in that bowl before you take it to the staff to fry on the hot plate.

Lilli demonstrated her prowess at stacking food. It was amazing to watch and humiliating in my failure to duplicate. XD

Ela was really good at it too.

A comparison of my noob attempts at this versus the mountain that was Ela’s.

And then it was taken to the iron griddle for cooking, much like Teppanyaki.

So hungry looking at these food.

By the by, I’m already back in Singapore, but I am so backlogged in my posts that you can probably expect to see more of my time in California for the next month or so. :D